


The Loophole

by mistresscurvy



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Arranged Marriage, Courtship, Knotting, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-19 20:45:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13131843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistresscurvy/pseuds/mistresscurvy
Summary: "The lawyers have found a pretty good loophole," Pat said."It's not a loophole, it's a long-standing cultural tradition," Mario said, glancing at Sidney."It's a fucking loophole," Pat reiterated. "But it's a great one."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maur/gifts).



> Thank you to H and O for the cheerleading! Maur, I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoy it <3

It was Sidney's 19th birthday when he got the call. 

Up until that moment it had been fairly routine. He spent the day with his parents and sister, doing his best to enjoy his time at home and not think about the countdown clock in his head. It had been this many days since he last played a game of hockey that really mattered. It would be however many more days until he would play the next. 

He knew that every summer wouldn't be as long as this one was; hopefully this would be the last like it for a long, long time. And as hard as it had been to watch other teams competing in the playoffs, at least for the first two and a half months after Sidney's season had ended there had been hockey to watch. He had learned when he tried to talk about the Eastern Conference Final with Army that not all players actually bothered to watch the playoffs if they weren't in them, but Sidney couldn't imagine how he would have survived April and May and the first half of June without at least getting to watch hockey. 

After the Ducks won the Cup, it had been a long, boring two months of nothing but training and rest followed by more training and rest. He was ready for some excitement. He was ready for hockey again. 

On his birthday, he got both. 

"Sidney! It's Ray Shero. First of all, I want to wish you a happy birthday."

"Thank you, Mr. Shero." He had already heard from Mario and a bunch of the other guys from the team, but this felt a little different. Sidney didn't know whether the Penguins' new GM planned to call every player on his birthday, or just him, but either way it made him feel a little sheepish and more like a kid than he wanted to. 

That particular concern disappeared at Mr. Shero's next words: "I don't mean to cut your summer vacation short, but when's the earliest you can come back down to Pittsburgh? There's a bit of situation." 

Sidney flew back the next day. 

*

He had expected the conversation with Mario to be a bit complicated, since he was calling to tell him that he was arriving back in Pittsburgh three weeks earlier than originally planned. But Mario didn't sound surprised or put out. "Your space here is available for you whenever you want to be here," he said. "Whether we're here or not. That's why you have a key." 

Sidney discovered it was a bit more than that when he arrived at Mario's two hours in advance of his meeting with Mr. Shero, and Mario mentioned that he would be at the meeting as well. 

"It's nothing to be too concerned about, Sidney, but it's something I should be there for as an owner," Mario said, in what was clearly intended to be a reassuring tone. Sidney was not fooled. 

He hadn't expected to fall in love with the city of Pittsburgh when he was drafted here. The actual location of the team he played for had never been anywhere close to the most important concern he had about where he would play. But in the past year he had come to love the people of this city, and how they cared about their hockey team, and he didn't want to be part of a conversation about how it was going to be taken away from them.

He also didn't particularly want to move, but that was fairly far down the list of concerns he was reviewing in his head. 

Mario drove them both over to the Igloo, making small talk about Sidney's summer while gently rebuffing all of Sidney's questions until he gave up and stopped trying. He clearly wasn't getting anywhere, and he'd find out what he needed to deal with soon enough. 

His next shock was seeing Pat outside the GM's office waiting for him. "Pat, what are you doing here?" 

"What, you wanted to handle this alone?" Pat asked, pulling Sidney in for a quick handshake and hug. 

"Handle what alone?" SIdney asked, feeling more and more bewildered. 

Pat shot a look over at Mario. 

"I thought it would be best if we had this conversation once, with all the relevant parties present," Mario said. 

"Almost all of them," Pat said gruffly. 

Before Sidney could ask what was going on, the door to Mr. Shero's office opened. "Oh good, you're all here," Mr. Shero said. "Let's get this started." 

Sidney followed Mario into the office with Pat right behind him. Coach was also in the office, standing behind the desk with his arms crossed. He nodded at Sidney but didn't speak. "Why don't you have a seat right there?" Mr. Shero said, gesturing to the middle seat across from his desk. Sidney took it, not sure if he felt better or worse being flanked by Pat sitting on his right and Mario on his left. 

"I'm sure you're wondering why we needed to see you so far in advance of the season, Sidney," Mr. Shero began. 

"Is the franchise moving?" Sidney asked, not wanting to beat around the bush any longer. He had almost asked if the Penguins were moving, but who knew if they would even keep the name. It didn't exactly go with Kansas City. 

But Mr. Shero looked startled. He glanced over at Mario, and then back at Sidney. "No, no. There have been no further developments on that front yet. Although if this meeting goes the way I hope it does, things may move closer to the Penguins staying where they belong." 

Hesitantly, Sidney asked, "Is there something I can do to help, Mr. Shero?" 

"For god's sake, Ray, just tell him," Pat said. "Or do you want me to?" 

Mr. Shero ignored Pat. "Call me Ray, Sidney. I'm not your boss." Sidney was pretty sure he was, and from the way Mr. Shero--Ray--smiled ruefully at him, that thought had been easily read from Sidney's face. "Or at least, I'd like to think of us all as working together towards a common goal. And part of that common goal concerns Evgeni Malkin." 

Out of all of the half-baked ideas Sidney had of where this conversation could be going, none of them involved a player Sidney had never even met. "Is he okay?" Sidney asked. 

"We hope he will be," Ray said, which wasn't very reassuring at all. "We got a call yesterday afternoon from JP, who told us Malkin had been manipulated into signing a new contract in Russia." 

"Oh," Sidney said, his heart sinking a little. He might not have met Malkin yet, but he had certainly watched tape of him playing, and he’d been looking forward to seeing that in person. 

"Now, this would be a difficult situation under normal circumstances. But given that Malkin is an omega, it's slightly more complicated." 

Sidney sat up straight at that news. "Did they do something to him?" The timbre of his voice had changed involuntarily; he knew he sounded like what Jack had described as a grumpy wolf, but he couldn't control it and he didn't want to. 

Ray held up his hand. "Not that we know of. But under Russian law, it's unclear whether he can terminate his employment with the club in the same way he could if he was an alpha or non-dynamic." 

"The lawyers have found a pretty good loophole, though," Pat interjected. 

"It's not a loophole, it's a long-standing cultural tradition," Mario said, glancing at Sidney.

"It's a fucking loophole," Pat reiterated. "But it's a great one." 

Throughout all of this, Ray hadn't taken his eyes off of Sidney. "Sidney, the reason we've asked you to this meeting is to see if you would be willing to enter into a Courtship with Evgeni Malkin." 

Sidney froze. "A Courtship?"

"If Malkin is in a Courtship with another player on the team, he can break the contract with Metallurg even as an omega," Mario said.

His thoughts still swirling, Sidney focused on the logistics and attempted to ignore everything else. "But how can we sign the Courtship papers if he's still in Russia?" 

Michel spoke up finally. "We can get him here, possibly as early as next week. But if we don't have a Courtship Agreement in place once he gets here, we won't be able to prevent him from having to go back." 

"By the time the Courtship Agreement expires in a year, his current contract with Metallurg will be void anyway, and he can freely sign whatever he wants and you can, too," Pat added. 

"It would never even need to be public," Ray said, and that's what snapped Sidney into speaking. 

"No," he said firmly. "I would never do that. If I'm Courting an omega, the last thing I would ever do to them is hide it, like I was ashamed to claim them. Especially since even if Malkin's status isn't common knowledge now, it will be once he's here. No," he said again, in case he was somehow unclear. "That's a dealbreaker, for me." 

"What else is a dealbreaker, Sidney?" Mario asked him. 

Sidney snapped his mouth shut. His initial impulse was to say that was it, there was nothing else he needed, but he forced himself to consider for a moment. "Can I meet him first?" he asked finally. 

"Of course," Ray said, and Mario added, "We can bring him to the house for dinner when he arrives."

"He won't be able to stay long if you decide against it," Pat said, holding his hands up when everyone turned to stare at him. "What, it's the truth, and the kid should know that." 

"I'm not planning to send him back," Sidney said. He understood the stakes. "But I can't say yes until I, well, you know." 

Ray cleared his throat and looked down at his desk. Sidney knew that he didn't know, that none of them did, but one of the only advantages of being the lone alpha in the room discussing issues of dynamics was that they would generally defer to him on them. 

Sure enough, Ray said, "We understand. We won't know until he's landed in the States that they're here, but as soon as we do, we'll bring him to Mario's." 

"Is there anything else we'll need?" Mario asked.

Sidney had been waiting for that question. "We'll need to prepare a special meal to welcome him. And we should have the Agreement ready for him, and two ribbons as well--maybe gold and black?" He felt his cheeks go a bit red when he asked for that, but it was what he wanted. There was one last question he needed to ask. "How does--is Malkin okay with this, too? Because I won't sign if he isn't." 

"According to JP, he's willing to do just about anything to get here," Pat said. 

Sidney frowned. 

"He also said that this solution was something he had suggested himself," Michel added. 

That answer landed hot and low in Sidney's belly, and for once he was glad no one else could smell his response. "Well," Sidney said weakly. 

"You're not exactly a troll, Sidney," Mario teased him gently. 

"That's not--okay then," Sidney said, cursing his lack of a poker face for giving him away anyway. 

"Gonch and his wife are on call to pick him up from the airport and bring him to meet you, whenever he arrives," Mario went on, kindly ignoring Sidney's red cheeks. "So there will be someone there to translate, and Malkin can tell you himself how he feels."

That would be good, a verbal confirmation on top of what hopefully only Sidney and Malkin would be able to understand when they met. He was sure that there were other details he should be asking about, but it felt kind of pointless to figure them out now when his mind was made up. 

"Okay," he said. "I'll do it." 

*

The only thing worse than having to wait for months for a specific date to arrive, Sidney discovered, was waiting for an indefinite period of time for something that might or might not happen at all. 

Mario had sounded certain when he’d told Sidney that Malkin would arrive in Pittsburgh within a week. But he couldn't tell Sidney how Malkin would get here, or what his old club might do to try to stop him, to say nothing of a definite date. Sidney didn't deal well with uncertainties. He liked knowing what he could control and what he couldn't, and he tried to focus exclusively on what he could control and to ignore everything else. But in this situation, ignoring what he couldn't control would involve ignoring everything altogether, which seemed unwise, at best. 

So Sidney did the only thing he could think of: he worked as hard as he could. Which in this case meant ordering every book on the history of Courtship he could get his hands on from Amazon and having them overnighted to Mario's house. He had initially wanted to buy them immediately at Barnes & Noble, but then he had considered the possibility of someone seeing him with those kinds of books and that option was quickly nixed. He added a Russian Rosetta Stone to his order and ignored the size of the total while clicking buy, and then he went to find Nathalie.

"Hello, Sidney," she said when he came barging into the kitchen. 

"Hi," he said, suddenly running out of steam and feeling awkward. 

"Is there something you needed? There are leftovers in the fridge," she said. 

Sidney reminded himself that he was an adult who would be entering a Courtship in a matter of days, and not Nathalie's oldest and least suave child. "If you were planning a dinner party for someone, and you wanted it to be really nice, but you didn't know when it would be, or how much time you'd have to prepare, what would you serve them?" 

Nathalie hummed, not seeming to find this question odd at all. Sidney couldn't tell whether Mario had already informed her of the situation, or if she was simply exceptional at rolling with the punches after twenty years of dealing with hockey players. "Any food restrictions?" she asked. 

Sidney hadn't even considered that. "Not that I know of?"

She nodded. "In that case, I would choose something simple like a grilled salmon dish. You could prepare the glaze ahead of time, and then if you have at least an hour's notice before your guest arrives, you could buy the salmon fresh. And for a side a nice summer salad would go well with that, along with some grilled vegetables and fresh bread." 

Sidney began to breathe easier. "That sounds perfect. Do you, um. Do you have any specific recipes you'd suggest?" 

Nathalie smiled at him. "Of course, Sidney. And if there's anything else I can help you with when he arrives, you can always ask." 

Sidney smiled back at her, feeling a bit sheepish for even thinking that Mario might not have told her exactly what was going on. "Thanks, Nathalie." He went over to the fridge. Leftovers actually sounded pretty good right about now.

"You're welcome. It's a very exciting time for you," she said. "So romantic, really."

Sidney stopped poking around in the fridge. He needed to get used to that reaction. "Let's hope so," he said.

* 

All of the books that arrived the next day echoed what Nathalie had said. He had expected it from books with titles like, "The Courtship of Your Dreams," but he had been hoping for something a bit more restrained from "A History of Courtship" and "Courtship: A Guide." Each book, whether written with a dynamic or a neutral readership in mind, had at least one chapter that waxed poetic about how special and, above all else, _romantic_ a Courtship was, especially given how rare they were now. 

It all made Sidney squirm uncomfortably. He had never seriously imagined that he would Court an omega. To be fair, he had never really spent much time thinking about dating, let alone anything more serious than that. But from everything he saw in the movies, and everything he'd read, he knew that he needed to be attentive and respectful and patient, which all seemed straightforward enough; but above all else, romance was the key component, and that was the part Sidney had no idea how to prepare for at all. Especially since one of the main things he should have been providing for Malkin was a lovely home where he could nest, and all Sidney had was an in-law suite on Mario's third floor. 

He considered and then rejected the idea of trying to find a place where they could live together before the season started. He didn't want to move, and he didn't want to bring Malkin into a home where no one else spoke Russian.

It took him three days of doing nothing but reading books in between training sessions and attempts at getting Nathalie's favorite salad dressing right before he gave in and called Gonch. 

"Sidney," he said. "You know I will call you as soon as I have any news?"

"Yes, I know," Sidney said in a rush. "I know you don't know anything more about his plans than I do at this point." 

His unspoken _right?_ must have come through loud and clear from the weight of Gonch's answering, "So then?" 

"So I wanted to ask you about other things," Sidney said. This had all sounded so much smoother in his head. 

"Like what things?" Gonch asked patiently. 

"Things like--what do you think Malkin would like as a present?" Sidney asked a little desperately. "Or, I mean, what do most Russian omegas like? Not that he's like every other omega, but well." He waited to hear Gonch laugh at him. 

Gonch didn't laugh, but he didn't offer much in the way of help, either. "Sidney, I do not know. I have never known a Russian omega, not well." 

"Oh," Sidney said. He knew that dynamics weren't as well integrated with neutrals in other countries as they were in Canada, but he hadn't thought it was as extreme as that. Especially since Gonch had played with Malkin in Metallurg. 

"Not intentionally, you understand, but I moved here so young, and even in Metallurg, I did not know Zhenya well like that," Gonch continued. Sidney could hear his shrug. "I knew him as hockey player, not as omega. It's different." 

"Sure," Sidney said, not understanding at all. "Like you know me as a hockey player, and not as an alpha?"

"I know you as pain in the ass," Gonch said cheerfully, and Sidney honked out a laugh at that, finally relaxing a bit. "But no, it's not quite the same." Sidney waited for him to explain more, but he was silent. 

"Okay," Sidney said slowly. "So then I should wait?"

"Yes," Gonch said, sounding more definitive than he had at any other point in the conversation. "Wait until you meet, and then you'll know. I did not find Zhenya to be shy about his feelings. At least not on ice." 

"Well, that's good," Sidney said. 

"Yes, you will both need to learn to stay out of the box from your feelings," Gonch teased him. 

Or maybe the league will be forced to admit my PIM last season was about my dynamic and not my actions if they start pulling the same shit with Malkin, Sidney thought but didn’t say. He knew it wouldn’t help, though; he had a reputation, and he needed to avoid giving the refs any reason to penalize him, as Mario had told him more than once. To Gonch he merely said, “I’m sure Malkin is much better at managing his temper than I am.”

Gonch laughed long and hard. “You’re in for big surprise, then. Not so different from you.”

A flare of hope rose up in Sidney’s chest, hearing that. “I hope not,” he said softly. 

“He will be here soon,” Gonch said after a moment. “Because of you. It will all be okay.”

“Thanks, Gonch,” Sidney said, and after they hung up he went back to waiting.

*

After what felt like weeks if not months of waiting, when Sidney finally got the call his first thought was _I'm not ready._

He argued with himself while he drove slightly too fast to the store and bought the salmon and vegetables for grilling and fresh bread and a chocolate cake from the bakery in case Malkin didn't like the strawberry shortcake he had prepared. It was pointless to feel this way; he was never going to be ready for this, not really, because the entire situation was closer to a fairy tale than real life. He was about to enter into a Courtship with a complete stranger for the sake of hockey, and temporary or not, this wasn't a scenario his media team had ever thought to prep him for. 

He wasn't entirely sure how they were going to respond to this when they found out the news, either. It felt too risky to tell anyone who didn't need to know what was happening until it had actually happened, but Sidney was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a particularly short or easy conversation. That call would probably seem very simple compared with telling his parents, an idea Sidney firmly put out of his head. He breathed and forced himself to focus on the individual steps he could take. Focus on the process, and the results would take care of themselves. 

He got home just as Gonch texted that Malkin made it through customs, which meant Sidney had half an hour at the most to make dinner happen. "I'll toss the salad, the grill is already waiting for the salmon and the veggies," Nathalie said. "And the kids are going to set the table, right?" she added, raising her voice on the last bit. 

Sidney thanked her and the two of them rotated around each other in the kitchen, each focused on their own piece. He was grateful that the Lemieux family had been willing to go through a dry run of the meal two nights ago, so now he just had to follow the plan. He had just gotten the salmon and veggies on the grill when Nathalie came out onto the porch, wiping her hands on an apron. 

"I'll watch these, if you want to go upstairs and change," she said. 

Sidney looked down at himself, the t-shirt and shorts and sneakers suddenly looking incredibly inappropriate. "Oh, no." 

"Go, you still have time." 

He ran upstairs and tore off his clothes, jumping into the shower for a quick two minute scrub down. He didn't want the first thing Malkin smelled on him to be anxiety sweats. Once he got out he pulled on a polo and khakis and debated whether to put shoes back on at all, finally deciding that boat shoes were the best option. And then it was time to attempt to do something with his hair. He stared at himself in the mirror, heart thumping in his chest, and took out the hair gel. 

He was just washing the excess off his hands when he heard the doorbell ring. He took a deep breath and dried his hands and went downstairs to meet his fate. 

Gonch and Ksenia were standing in the entryway with Mario and Nathalie. Sidney stood a bit off to the side, not quite knowing how to include himself in the conversation, or to ask where Malkin was, but Gonch saved him from that. 

"Hello, Sidney. Zhenya should be right in." Gonch was looking at him kindly, like perhaps the hair gel hadn't disguised Sidney's nerves quite as much as he had hoped. 

"How was the airport?" Sidney asked. 

"Oh, fine, the wait wasn't too bad." 

"Glad to hear it," Sidney said inanely, saved from trying to come up with something else to say when Malkin opened the door. 

The first thing Sidney noticed was how tall he was. Lots of hockey players were big, and Sidney was used to never being the tallest guy in a room, but there was something about his size that just made Sidney want to stare. 

It might not only have been his height, though. Malkin looked exhausted as he stood just inside the door, hands clasped in front of his belly, uncertainty showing in all of his body. Sidney was suddenly desperate to change that. 

"Hi," he said, walking up to him between Gonch and Ksenia. "I'm Sidney. You must be Evgeni." He was proud of himself for not stumbling on the name at all, even though he somehow doubted his Russian accent was any better than everyone told him his French accent was. He held out his hand. 

Malkin's eyes darted between Sidney's face and his hand, and then he turned to look over at Gonch. Whatever he saw there must have reassured him, because he finally looked back at Sidney, and took his hand. 

Sidney felt like a bit of an idiot for expecting their first touch to be electric or magical the way the first touch between bondmates always was in the movies. This was just a handshake, and if Malkin was going to be playing on the Penguins for long, they'd be making contact like this every day on and off the ice. Sidney couldn't be overwhelmed with feelings of longing every time they touched or he wouldn't be able to play at all. So it was a relief, actually, that it was just an ordinary handshake.

He did notice how big Malkin's hand was. It felt good around Sidney's hand, firm and solid and lacking any of the hesitancy Sidney had seen in Malkin before they touched. He looked up at Malkin's face and found him looking right back at him, eyes wide and mouth dropped open, and Sidney thought, _oh._

Maybe he was responding to the touch after all. 

He could hear Mario saying something in the background, but suddenly it became vitally important that Sidney find out what Malkin smells like. So he took one step closer to Malkin, angled his face until he was six inches away from Malkin's neck, and breathed in. 

It was always a big conversational topic among young alphas: what an omega would smell like when they were scented. Sidney had never had much to contribute to the conversation; his mind seemed built for analyzing plays and building routines, not imagining something he only barely believed he'd ever experience himself. He didn't think he had much in the way of expectations. 

So the shock to his system when he got his first sniff of Malkin almost made him fall over. Hand tightening on Malkin's, he swayed a little closer to his neck. He had thought it might be something like the smell of clean sweat after a long practice, or something sharp and cold like the spray of snow coming up off the ice at the end of a hard stop. But instead it was sweet, and almost a little spicy, something Sidney had never encountered before. He took another deep breath in through his nose, certain that he could identify it if he just stayed there a little longer. 

Malkin made a noise, and Sidney opened his eyes and pulled back just far enough to catch his expression, to see the confusion and something that could be panic on Malkin's face. He jerked away from Malkin, finally dropping his hand, and he felt his face bloom with heat. He had done exactly what he had told himself he would never do. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he said, holding his hands up at his sides. "Gonch, you've got to tell him I'm sorry." 

"For what?" Gonch asked, and Sidney didn't even look at him, couldn't take his eyes away from Malkin's face. 

"Tell him, please." 

Gonch's Russian floated over Sidney's head, and he cursed himself for spending so much time reading about Courtship and so little time listening to the Rosetta Stone. He didn't look away from Malkin, certain that if he seemed anything less than sincere Malkin would think that his apology via Gonch was disingenuous. 

After Gonch stopped speaking, Malkin was silent for a moment, his eyes busy on Sidney's face. Finally, he gave a little shrug, and said something to Sidney. 

"What did he say?" Sidney demanded. 

"I am not your translator," Gonch said mildly, and Sidney would have time to feel guilty for that later. "But he accepts your apology." 

Relief crashed through Sidney's body. "Thank you," he said to Malkin. He thought he could see something like recognition in Malkin's eyes when he said that, but he had no way of actually knowing. He tried not to let himself jump to conclusions based only on what he could read in a person's eyes, but he still hoped he was right.

"Why don't we sit down for dinner," Nathalie said. "You can all see what Sidney spent the afternoon preparing for us." 

"You helped a lot," he said. 

"Yes, but you planned it. Go and see if you can find the kids, please." 

Sidney gladly took that offered opportunity to escape from Malkin--and everyone else--for a brief moment. He ran upstairs and gave himself a second to breathe in the hall, trying desperately to slow his racing heart, before he found the kids in their rooms. "Your mom says it's time for dinner." 

"Do we get to meet Malkin?" Austin demanded. 

"Well, seeing as he's eating with us, yes," Sidney said, and watched with bemusement as Austin thundered down the stairs. 

Adding the kids to a situation always made things easier for Sidney. They gave him something to focus on, and they also had a tendency to ask the questions or say the things that Sidney wanted to ask or say but knew he shouldn't. 

They also made him feel better about his own ability to pronounce Malkin's first name. 

"That isn't even close," Sidney said after Austin's third attempt. 

"How would you know," Austin retorted. 

"Gonch, could you please ask Evgeni to say his name for us?" Sidney asked. He was feeling quite smug about everything up until the moment Malkin said his name. 

"That didn't sound anything like what you said!" Austin crowed delightedly. 

"Austin," Mario admonished. 

"I was close, though," Sidney said, looking to Malkin for reassurance even though he knew Malkin couldn't understand what he had just said. 

Instead, Malkin looked over at Gonch and then back at Sidney. "Geno," he said, pointing himself. 

"We should call you 'Geno'?" Sidney asked, just to be sure. 

"Unless you think the team can manage Zhenya better than Evgeni," Gonch said with a wry look. 

Sidney didn't bother responding to that. "Geno," Sidney repeated. Malkin--Geno--nodded. "Okay then."

"We should take Geno out after dinner for some hockey!" Austin said, clearly past the name conversation. 

"Geno's had a long day of traveling, buddy," Mario said. 

"Maybe we can play when he's not about to fall over," Gonch said. 

Suddenly Sidney felt very rude. Geno had been here for half an hour, and he hadn't even tried to ask him how the travel went. "Gonch, could you ask him how his travels were?" 

Gonch looked at him like he was crazy. "You've flown from Finland, it's no fun. That's how."

"Wait, he was in Finland?" Sidney asked. 

"He went there from Russia," Gonch said shortly. 

'Why?" Sidney asked, feeling more and more bewildered. 

"Because as an omega he was able to get his passport back from his team while they were there," Gonch said, and something in Sidney's stomach went hard. 

"They took away his passport?" 

"What, you thought it was easy for him to get here?" Gonch said. Sidney sat back in his seat, feeling stung. 

He glanced over at Geno, who was watching him and Gonch with a furrowed brow. Sidney turned to him and said, very slowly and with all the sincerity he could put in his voice, "We're very glad you're here." 

"Sid, he can't understand you." 

Sidney ignored that. "And once we're Courting, no one is going to be able to do that to you again, I promise." He glanced back at Gonch. "He still wants to Court, right?" 

"As far as I know, but I'm sure you saying that will have convinced him," Gonch said. 

"Sergei, stop it," Ksenia said softly. 

Sidney had no idea what he had done to upset Gonch, but that couldn't be his main concern. "Will you please ask him if he still wants to?" 

There was a pause, as Gonch stared back at Sidney. Finally, he nodded, and Sidney let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. 

He watched Geno's face as Gonch spoke to him in Russian, feeling irrationally furious that he couldn't just have this conversation with Geno himself. When Geno responded to Gonch, his eyes were steady on Sidney. 

"He says yes, of course," Gonch said finally. Sidney bit back the desire to ask him if he was sure, and stopped himself from glancing over at Ksenia to see what she thought of this announcement. 

"Okay," Sidney said. "We should sign the Agreement, then."

"After we have dessert," Nathalie interjected. 

"Can we go outside and play hockey, even if Geno doesn't want to?" Austin asked, and Sidney startled and looked at the kids, who looked either bored or wide-eyed at the argument happening among the grownups. 

"You can if you clear your places," Mario said, and within seconds the table was free of children. 

Sidney finished his salmon, quietly pleased that Geno had already demolished his serving and had seconds. His own appetite had been dulled a bit by the nerves in his stomach, the reality of what he was about to do seeping into his body more with every passing minute. He had only had one season in the NHL, and now he was about to add a completely new element to his life, barely six weeks before the new season started. And then he chided himself for thinking about the disruption to his life, when Geno had just moved to another country where he didn't speak the language and was about to get bonded to an alpha he had only just met. Sidney could handle this. 

He thought that perhaps Mario spent a bit more time lingering over the strawberry shortcake than was really necessary, asking Gonch about his summer and generally behaving as if there wasn't a second act to this dinner party that was far more important than the first. But finally the plates were all empty, and there was nothing left to keep them from the task at hand. 

Sidney, Geno, Gonch, and Mario all went into Mario's study where the two copies of the Courtship Agreements were. The one in Cyrillic had been reviewed by JP, and Sidney had been assured that it was the same thing as the English version he and Geno would sign, but Sidney still felt a pang of panic that Geno didn't know exactly what he was getting himself into. 

"You've read both versions, right?" he asked Gonch, who let out a breath. 

"I did, which was so fun, trust me."

"And it's all the same?"

 

Gonch stared at him again with disbelieving eyes. "Why do you think I would let him be taken advantage of? You think I want him--hoodwinked? Is that the word?" he asked of Mario. 

Mario nodded. "Yes, that's it." 

"Or you think Penguins aren't worth it for him?" 

"No, I just. It's a big decision," Sidney said weakly. 

"He knows what he's doing. Do you?" Gonch asked, his voice a bit accusing. 

Sidney took a deep breath. "I do." 

Something in the way he said it must have convinced Gonch, because his eyes cleared a bit and he nodded. "Okay. Then let's get this done."

"I'm sorry for all the English," Sidney said to Geno. 

"He will need to get used to it," Gonch said dismissively. 

"Still," Sidney said. He searched Geno's expression for any sign of reluctance or coercion, like his face could tell him things Geno couldn't in words. But Geno just gazed back at Sidney steadily, looking exhausted but otherwise showing no signs of discomfort. "Gonch, please tell Geno that I'm about to sign the Agreement." 

"I think he can watch you do that," Gonch said, but then he spoke to Geno as Sidney flipped to the final page of the document and signed and dated it. He handed the pen to Geno and stepped back from the desk, watching as Geno added his name and dated it with no hesitancy. 

Gonch and Mario signed below their names as the witnesses, and it was official: Sidney and Geno were Courting, and they would be until they bonded formally at the end of one year or until one of them broke the Agreement. Technically, there was nothing more they needed to do, but for Sidney there was a final step needed, like putting on the Penguins jersey had made him feel like it was real, even though he had known where he would play since the day the lottery happened.

"Mario, do you have the ribbons?" Sidney asked, feeling a bit breathless. 

"I have them right here." 

Geno was staring down at him, and Sidney could feel his cheeks start to flush. He'd lived with teammates chirping him for how easily he went pink for years, but he'd never been able to figure out a way to keep that off his face. He held out his hand to Geno, and after a moment, Geno took it again. 

Sidney had been trying to convince himself that he’d imagined the way it had felt when he and Geno had first shaken hands. But the second Geno's hand closed around his again, he felt a tug low in his gut. It was like his body knew what it had meant to sign the papers, or simply remembered what Geno had smelled like, sweet and a bit spicy and _his._

With an effort, Sidney stopped himself from swaying closer to Geno. He stayed where he was, eyes locked with Geno’s until Mario cleared his throat next to him. 

"Is there a specific way I should do this?" Mario asked. 

Sidney shook his head. "Just wrap them both around our hands, I think." He looked down to watch as Mario slowly twisted the gold and black ribbons over and under his wrist, bringing them over until they covered his and Geno's hands, and then finally hung loosely from Geno's wrist. 

They were bound together now, held by the law and by tradition. 

Geno said something intently to Sidney, the sound of his voice washing over him. 

"Gonch?" he asked faintly. 

"He said the gold and black looks lovely against your skin." Sidney could hear the laughter in his voice. 

"Gonch, seriously," Sidney said, eyes still locked with Geno's. 

Gonch laughed fully this time. "I swear to you, it's what he said. Very romantic, your omega." 

The blush that had finally begun to fade came roaring back to Sidney's face. He was certain his cheeks would be hot to the touch, and almost lifted his free hand to feel the heat there. "Well, tell him black and gold looks just as nice on him." 

"Oh, no. No, Sidney, you will have to learn Russian if you want to woo, I will not be your translator for this. Only hockey!" 

Sidney finally looked away from Geno at Gonch, startled at the smile he saw on his face. Compared with how Gonch had behaved at dinner, he was now perfectly relaxed, the Gonch Sidney thought he knew again. He had no idea what had happened to cause the change, but he was still grateful.

"Well," Sidney said. He cleared his throat and looked at Geno again. He took hold of the loose ends of the ribbons hanging from his wrist and slowly began to pull his hand away from Geno's. "We'll keep these ribbons with the Courtship Agreement." 

"Yes, you will need them for your wedding clothes," Gonch said. 

"Gonch!" Sidney would never stop blushing. 

"That is what they're for, isn't it?" Mario said, grinning. 

"Obviously you know that they are," Sidney said grumpily. He didn't add _at least when people are actually planning to get married at the end of it,_ but he thought it very loudly. He focused on folding up the ribbons carefully, because it wasn't their fault they wouldn't be used in that way, and he was still going to make sure they looked good. He finally looked back up at Geno and noticed that his eyes were drooping a bit. "Looks like we've worn him out, huh." 

"Well, it's got to feel like the middle of the night to him," Mario said. 

Sidney nodded. It only made sense that Geno would be ready to crash; if anything, it was remarkable how well he'd done for so long. Adrenaline was a hell of a thing. "Gonch, would you tell him that it was great to meet him, and I'll see him again soon?" He wasn't exactly sure when; he was certain Geno had to go through tons of stuff with the front office and medical staff, but it was still a few weeks until training camp started. Maybe he could invite him back over to play pick up with the kids soon. 

Geno made a confused sound after Gonch had translated for him. "Wait, what did you say?" Sidney asked, convinced that Gonch had made it sound like a joke or editorialized a bit. 

"I just said what you said, I swear," Gonch said, and then Geno spoke to him. "He's asking if he's not staying here." 

Sidney blanched, appalled at how much he had failed in his first interaction with Geno. Of course Geno would think that Sidney expected him to stay with him right off the bat, after he’d scented him so blatantly. "Oh god, Gonch, please apologize again and tell him that no, I'd never expect him to stay with me. I can't even speak Russian!"

"I think he knows that," Gonch said, but dutifully translated for Geno. Sidney watched for the expected relief to wash over Geno's face, but all he saw was more confusion. His bondmate had only been here for a couple of hours and somehow Sidney had managed to ruin everything already. 

Geno said something that sounded like a question, and Gonch replied. Sidney bit his lip in an attempt not to immediately badger Gonch for a translation, but Gonch answered his unasked question anyway. "He wants to know if you don't want him here?"

Oh, fuck. "It's not about what I want, it's about what will be most comfortable for him," Sidney said slowly. "He should be with someone he knows, and who can communicate with him." 

"He's going to have to learn English eventually," Gonch said. 

"Not all in the first night," Sidney said, but Gonch had already turned back to Geno and was speaking to him rapidly. After a moment, Geno mumbled something and looked down at his hands. 

"Well, that's settled, we're going to head out now," Gonch said, and even though that was what Sidney had wanted, he suddenly didn't want to see Geno go. 

"Just, make sure he knows that as soon as he gets some sleep he's going to need to play some shinny with me and the kids," Sidney said a little desperately, as they made their way to the front door, Ksenia joining them from the living room. 

Gonch eyed him but spoke to Geno, who glanced over at Sidney and gave a half smile before responding to Gonch. 

Sidney's stomach got a little warm even before Gonch said, "He wants to know if that will be his first training camp." 

Sidney let out a loud honk of a laugh. "We're pretty competitive, so yeah." 

"You shock me, Sidney," Gonch said. 

Sidney ignored him and held out his hand to Geno. "Goodnight, then."

A long moment passed in which Sidney began to panic that Geno wouldn't even touch him, until Geno finally reached out and grasped Sidney's hand for the third time that evening. Sidney had thought he was prepared for it this time, at least, but he fought to keep his eyes from sliding shut at the sensation. 

"Goodnight, I will bring him back soon," Gonch said, breaking the spell. 

"You'd better," Sidney said weakly, standing at the door and watching as they got into the car and drove away. 

*

Sidney had thought that once Geno arrived, his entire life would change. But in reality, for the first couple of days his routine stayed exactly the same: training plus attempting to study Russian plus waiting to see Geno (again). He had done all that he could do, giving Geno an open invitation to come back to his home whenever he wanted, and there wasn't much else he could do until training camp started. 

The wait might have been easier if he’d felt like he was making any progress at all with learning Russian. After his experience with French he had thought learning a third language would be easier, but instead it felt even harder. 

"Well, maybe if you invited Malkin over you could practice with him," Jack said when he complained about it on the phone. 

"I'm not going to invite him over," Sidney said. 

"Because you have no game." 

"It has nothing to do with how much game I do or do not have," Sidney said indignantly. 

"None. You have none," Jack said helpfully. Sidney didn't bother trying to argue the point. "Besides, why do you need to be able to speak Russian?" 

Sidney was just about to explain that it wasn't fair to expect Geno to learn English and not make the same effort when Jack added, "Isn't the whole point of being bondmates that you can just, like, read each other's minds?" 

"We're not fucking mutants," Sidney said, trying and failing not to laugh. 

"Well, how should I know?" 

"Didn't you have to learn about this in sex ed or whatever?" 

"I stopped listening once they started talking about your knot," Jack said, making a gagging sound. 

Sidney ignored him. "That's not how a bond works. I can't just read his mind or something. I mean, if I could, we probably couldn't play on the same team. It would be cheating," he added, musing on the possibility. 

"That'd be pretty cool," Jack said, echoing his thoughts. 

"Yeah, but I can't. So that's why I need to learn Russian." 

"Okay," Jack said in a sing-song tone, making it perfectly clear that he thought Sidney was being ridiculous but wasn't going to bother arguing. "What does the bond mean, then?" 

Sidney shrugged, looking down at his feet. "I dunno." 

"It has to be something, though." 

"I mean. He smells really good?" Sidney offered, wincing. Sure enough, Jack started to laugh. "Hey, dipshit, you asked." 

"Being an alpha sounds fucking useless, oh my god," Jack said, wheezing. 

"Yeah, well," Sidney said. "Kind of. And I guess the longer we're bonded, the better I'll be able to feel his emotions, but I'm not sure if that's from the bond or because we'll know each other better or something. It's not like we get a manual, okay," he finished, suddenly feeling crabby. 

"Life doesn't come with a rule book. It's not hockey, kid," Jack said. 

"Don't call me that," Sidney said automatically. He thought life should come with a rule book; everything would be much easier. "Anyway, how's your summer going?" he asked, in the least subtle change of subject ever. "When do you head back to Michigan?" He tried and mostly failed not to think about Geno while Jack answered. 

* 

Sidney held out another two days before he caved and called Gonch. 

"So, um, do you know if Geno wants to come over to play some hockey?" he asked, feeling like he was seven again and calling his friends too early on a Saturday morning.

"I am not here to set up your playdates," Gonch said, which didn't help that comparison at all. 

"I mean, you sort of are," Sidney said. 

Gonch sighed. "I will let Geno know that you have invited him again. Is there a specific time?" 

"Not really?" Sidney said. Ever since he had come back early from Cole Harbour, Sidney had spent part of most afternoons playing with Mario's kids, and he was fairly certain they'd be thrilled to change their schedules for Geno. 

"I will tell him. Goodbye, Sidney," Gonch said, with that odd tone in his voice again. Sidney really needed to figure out what he was doing that made Gonch respond like that. 

He forgot to worry about it when Gonch and Geno showed up a few hours later. He was too busy trying to remember any of the Russian he’d been attempting to learn. It might have been easier if it wasn't so distracting to see Geno face to face again, but Sidney was going to have to get used to that. So he took a deep breath, and tried. 

"Hi, Gonch," he started with, and then he turned to look directly at Geno. "Privet, Geno." 

This time he thought he could read what was on Geno's face: mostly surprise, with maybe a hint of something like satisfaction. " _How are you?_ " he continued in Russian. 

" _Good,_ " Geno said. Sidney had forgotten how nice his voice was. He was about to ask Geno to repeat back Sidney's Russian phrase so he could hear the proper accent when Geno asked, "How are you?" haltingly in English. 

Sidney grinned. "I'm good. Look at you!" He started to say more when Geno turned to Gonch and murmured something. "Oh, that was probably too fast. I'm good, Geno," he said again, slower, the smile still on his face. 

"Congratulations, you can both be very polite to each other for hours now. Very Canadian," Gonch said. 

"Ah, fuck you," Sidney said, looking around after he said to make sure Austin hadn't come outside. Geno said something in a questioning tone. "Yeah, you're gonna learn that word quick enough." He flushed pink when he thought about what he had said, and considered explaining that he meant because of trash talk and not actual fucking, but Geno wouldn't understand him anyway and even worse, Gonch would. "So uh, let's see if we can get together a game." 

He let himself just talk as they went out back and found the kids, figuring that Geno would have to get used to hearing his voice even if he couldn't understand every word yet. "So usually it's me and Alexa against the other three and no goalie, but I could play in goal this time?”

“No, no,” Gonch said quickly. “I will be in goal, Mario in the other, and then split the kids up. And the two of you will have to be enemies for once.” He rattled something off to Geno in Russian, who nodded. 

Sidney smiled at Geno, hopeful that he would have a good time. 

He didn’t have to worry, as it turned out. Geno was as good with Austin and Alexa as he was with handling his stick, shouting instructions in Russian and then cheering when somehow one of them got the puck past Gonch. Sidney kept one eye on the game and one eye on Geno the entire time, watching how careful he was of Alexa and yet competitive overall. He felt a warm sense of satisfaction at seeing how much lighter and more open Geno seemed while playing than he had during their dinner, and he grew even more certain that this had been the right thing to do. 

That didn’t make him any less nervous when, as they were leaving, Gonch said casually, “You should come for dinner at our house this weekend. Saturday night, perhaps?” 

“Of course,” Sidney said automatically, and inwardly chastised himself for feeling like he was going into enemy territory. It wouldn’t be the first dinner he’d had at the Gonchars’ home, and Geno wasn’t his enemy. He tried to figure out how many more Russian lessons he could fit in before then. 

The answer was not enough, he decided as he stood on their front porch on Saturday with a bottle of wine in hand. 

To be fair to himself, the main problem was that there was so much he wanted to say, and so little that he actually could. He knew that Ksenia at least would be happy to translate his questions for him, but he didn’t want Geno to feel like he was trying to interview him. Many teammates of his--both current and former--had made it clear that his level of curiosity was less charming and more annoying as fuck, and he felt like that was even more likely to be the case when it took twice as long to say anything. 

The wine helped a bit, at least. So did the fact that Geno seemed to have just as many questions for Sidney. At first Sidney attempted to pick out words in Russian before Gonch translated Geno’s questions, but it was all too fast for him and he was busy thinking of things he wanted to ask him, too. 

“I have a little sister,” Sidney told him. “Do you have any siblings?” And so Geno told him via Gonch about his older brother Denis, and learning to play hockey with him and how no one thought Geno would be big enough to play professionally. 

“How is that possible, you’re huge,” Sidney said in disbelief.

“Late bloomer,” Gonch answered for Geno, and then he and Geno had a back and forth that he didn’t translate for Sidney. He bit back the demand that Gonch share it all with him; he didn’t have to be part of every conversation they had. He just wanted to be. 

By the end of the evening Sidney felt happy and relaxed and warm. Some of that was probably due to the wine, but a lot of it was from the way Geno would smile at Sidney after Gonch translated each of Sidney's questions, and how he would look straight at Sidney as he answered rather than at Gonch. Sidney felt just as drunk from Geno's attention as he did from the alcohol. 

Afterwards he would blame the influence of both intoxicants for how he stepped close to Geno at the end of the evening with his arms open. For a second he thought Geno would decline, and he was about to drop his arms when Geno very carefully walked into the offered hug, his arms folding tightly around Sidney's waist. 

Sidney went up onto his tiptoes as he put both arms around Geno's neck, pulling them flush against each other. He gave himself permission to take one deep breath with his face pressed against Geno's skin, figuring he could control himself. And he did, but the urge to open his mouth and kiss him was far stronger than he had anticipated. He made himself pull back, shivering at the drag of Geno's hands along his back as he moved away. 

"Bye, Geno. It was nice to see you," he murmured in Russian. He tended to deal with his uncertainty of pronunciation by speaking quietly and swallowing the end of words, which almost certainly didn't help, but Geno didn't seem to have any trouble understanding him. 

"Yes, you," Geno said back, and Sidney made himself pull away completely before he did something completely ridiculous like kiss him. 

"Goodbye, Sidney, I think Mario is here for you," Gonch said loudly, and Sidney flushed and said, "Thank you both for having me!" and all but ran out the door. 

He spent the ride back to Mario's staring out the window, grinning foolishly. 

*

Sidney didn't have much time to dwell on whether he had made a complete idiot of himself in front of Geno, because summer was quickly turning into fall and all of his attention was on getting ready for camp. He knew he was getting an A this year, and the last thing he wanted was to start off on the wrong foot with any of the new members of the team. Beyond Geno himself, they had a new rookie who would probably be making the jump up early in the season if not immediately, and that meant Sidney wouldn't be the youngest for the first time. He wanted to make that count. 

By the time the first day of training camp started, Sidney was just about going out of his skin with impatience. Skating drills were one thing, but it had been far too long since the last time he had played in anything close to a competitive game. They were still a month off from the regular season itself, but even just being on the ice in scrimmages with other players would be enough, especially since they all wanted to impress Michel.

Before they went out on the ice for the first time, Geno was pulled out to go through some fitness tests, and Sidney seized the opportunity to have a conversation he wasn't exactly looking forward to but knew needed to happen. For the first time he wished that he had another alpha hockey player to talk to, but he didn't know St. Louis very well and didn't feel like he could just call him up out of the blue to discuss this. So it was just him and his team.

"Hey guys! I, uh, I have something I need to tell you all." It was a bit unnerving how the entire room immediately turned to focus on Sidney, but on the other hand this was a conversation that he only wanted to have once, if possible. "So, as most of you know, I'm an alpha." 

"We already told you, we don't want to see your knot," Talbot called out. 

Sidney ignored him; after last season he was used to dealing with Max. "That wasn't something I needed to talk about a lot last season, but there's been a change. Um. I know you all just met Geno. Well, he's an omega, and we've entered into a Courtship together." 

There was a very startled silence from the room. 

"This all happened pretty quickly, and it's going to be announced by the team in the next couple of weeks, so you don't need to keep it secret or anything, but I just wanted to make a couple of things clear." Sidney took a deep breath. "None of you are going to bug him about the omega thing, or our Courtship, or any of it. Everything else is fair game, like with anyone else, but not that." 

"He wouldn't even understand us if we did," Army said. 

"But I would," Sidney said, glaring. 

"Already so protective of your omega, Sid? I like that," Whits said. 

"It has nothing to do with him being my omega," Sidney said, just barely getting out _my omega_ without stuttering. "He's one of our teammates and a rookie, and you can chirp him about plenty of things, but leave his dynamic out of it."

"Alright, captain," Flower said, and Sidney just barely stopped himself from sighing out loud at that. 

"I'm not the captain," he said. 

"Sure acting like it," Flower said with a wink. 

"No no, he's not acting like a captain," Talbot said, with a wicked look on his face. He slung his arm around Sidney's shoulders. "He's acting like an _alpha._ "

"Max," Sidney started, but it was too late; the entire room was busting up. 

"Guess we know what this A really stands for," Talbot said, patting Sidney over the badge on his chest. 

"Oh my god," Sidney said. 

"So don't worry, Alpha, we won't give _Malkin_ a hard time!" 

Well, that could have gone worse, even if Sidney had managed to redirect all potential harassment his own way. He was just about to head out onto the ice to warm up when Jordy came over to his stall. 

"Hey, Sid?" It was a surreal and still unexpected experience for Sidney to have a teammate who looked so much younger than he was. He had just been through what Jordy was going through right now, though, and he was determined to be helpful. 

"What's up?" 

Jordy cleared his throat. "I just wanted to let you know that I wouldn't say anything to Geno. About him being an omega, I mean." 

Sidney tried to figure out how to say _I wasn't really worried about you_ in a way that didn't sound completely dismissive. After a minute, he decided there wasn't one. "Thanks, Jordy, I appreciate that." 

"And, I mean, I know it's not any of our business, but I hope you two are really happy together," Jordy continued, his fair skin going pink. 

Sidney considered explaining the actual situation, and gave up on that, too. "You're a good teammate, Jordy," he said instead, clapping Jordy on the shoulder and tactfully ignoring Jordy's blush going from pink to fire engine red in half a second. "Let's get out there, eh?" 

Once out on the ice all thoughts of omegas and Courtship went out the window, as Sidney let his focus narrow in on his training. He wasn't thinking about Geno as an omega when he finally joined the rest of the team; his attention was only on how beautiful Geno's skating was, and the way he could barrel through defenders to make a move on net. 

"Your tongue's hanging out of your mouth," Talbot chirped him in French. Sidney decided that the best response to that was the cold shoulder.

* 

The preseason seemed to rush by, training camp blending into team scrimmages until finally it was time for actual games--games that didn't mean anything in the standings, certainly, but games were still games, and Sidney had missed them. With each passing day, he felt Geno become more a part of the team, and even if the two of them hadn't connected much more beyond their first dinners and hockey with the Lemieux kids, it still felt like it was building toward something. When they finally reached their first preseason game, Sidney was thrilled. 

And then Geno went into the boards. 

It was always terrible to see a teammate get injured, no matter who they were. But any pretense Sidney still had that he thought about Geno in the same way he did everyone else disappeared when he saw Geno get up so slowly. There wasn't even any possibility of avenging him by winning the game or delivering a hard check, since he’d been injured by friendly fire. 

Sidney got through the rest of the game, but as soon as the final horn sounded he immediately went to the training room where he found Mike and Gonch but no Geno. 

"Where is he?"

"Already at home, Sid, Ksenia came to pick him up. It's his shoulder," Gonch added, before Sidney could ask. 

He looked over at Mike, who shook his head. "Don't have a good time table on his return yet, but I don't think he should miss too much time." 

"He'd better not," Sidney said, already angry at the idea of Geno not getting to do what he was capable of out there on the ice. 

"Now both of you go back to the dressing room before Michel comes and kicks my ass, too," Mike said, and Sidney and Gonch did. 

Sidney lasted a day and a half before he drove over to Gonch's house to see Geno. Ksenia gave him a knowing look but refrained from commenting, which Sidney appreciated. "He's upstairs sulking."

"He should be working on his English," Sidney said, somewhat hypocritically since it had been at least a week since he'd looked at his Russian homework. He needed to be better about that. 

"Well, maybe he would if he had someone to help him," Ksenia said, and Sidney didn't need more encouragement than that.

When he found Geno in his room, he discovered that Ksenia hadn't been joking, Geno was watching something Russian on his laptop, but his face was set in the most exaggerated sulk Sidney had ever seen. It transformed the instant he saw Sidney, however, a look of wide-eyed surprise and happiness immediately washing over his face. "Sid!"

"I came to see how you were doing," Sidney said, walking into the room like he was drawn by a magnet. He had told himself that he was keeping his distance for Geno's own good, that it was the right thing to do for a young omega on a new team, even one he was technically Courting. But something in his stomach settled when he saw Geno, like he had finally gotten off a roller coaster, and he didn't want to fight it any longer. He sat down next to Geno on his bed. "What are you watching?"

Geno was still staring at his face, like he couldn't quite believe he was there. "Is Russian thing, you know." 

"I'll watch it with you," Sidney said. 

If anything, Geno looked even more astonished. "Yes?" 

"And then we can watch Animal Planet next time or something. It's good for your vocab," Sidney said, which could even be true. 

"Okay good," Geno said, and they got settled back on the bed. Sidney let Geno arrange himself first so that he wasn't straining his shoulder, and then very carefully situated himself next to him, leaning against Geno's good side. 

He didn't understand a word of the show, but he understood Geno's pleasure in getting to share it with him, and that was what mattered. 

At the end of the episode, Geno turned to him, looking expectant and a little shy. "You like?" he asked softly. 

Sidney nodded. "I did. I should head home now or I'm going to be late for dinner, but I’ll see you again soon?" 

"Yes," Geno said, his tongue running over his lower lip for a second, and Sidney gave in and did the thing he'd been wanting to do for weeks. The kiss was gentle and quick, not much more than a brief press of their lips together, but it made Sidney warm in his belly anyway. 

"I'll see you soon," he said again, getting up and fleeing before his face could give him away even more. 

It was a start. 

Sidney didn't see Geno again for another couple of days, when he was cleared to skate alone before the team's practice. He hadn't meant to watch Geno on the ice--he was simply early because he always was--but as he watched Geno skate wide graceful circles around the rink, he was quietly pleased that he got to see this. 

He intentionally left the rink for the dressing room before Geno got off the ice. Maybe Geno would feel odd knowing that his alpha was watching him like that, especially after Sidney had kissed him. So he got into his gear and waited to see how Geno reacted when he came in. 

When Geno walked in, Sidney felt it deep in his gut, the same sensation he’d had when he scented Geno at Mario's house. Sidney glanced over at Geno to find him looking back at him already, a shy smile just beginning to break out over his face. 

"Good skate?" Sidney asked, feeling unreasonably pleased when Geno nodded immediately. 

Gonch and a bunch of the other guys had come in, so they were no longer alone. That was a bit frustrating, but on the other hand it meant that when Geno said something in Russian that was too complicated for Sidney to even try to parse, he could look to Gonch for help. 

Heaving a sigh, Gonch said, "He says that you can watch him skate whenever you want, to get better." 

Sidney turned back to look at Geno, incredulous and almost unbearably fond. "Did you just chirp me?"

Geno shrugged and stuck his tongue out a little. It was unfairly cute. 

"Now he's definitely a part of the team," Army yelled. 

"Shut up and get ready for practice, we're going to be late," Sidney said, trying to sound firm. But his heart wasn't quite in it, and as he left to make his way to the ice, he turned back to stare at Geno once more.

His gaze was fixed on Sidney. 

* 

It became a new routine: Sidney watching Geno skate and the entire team coming in halfway through Sidney's attempts at having some nice, normal conversations with his bondmate. Each time Sidney would force himself to bite his tongue whenever the guys chirped Geno, since they never mentioned him being an omega and only ever teased Sidney about being bonded. That restraint didn't extend to checking in with Gonch, however. 

"How much of all that does he understand?" Sidney demanded as they left the dressing room to get to practice and Geno went to check in with the trainers. 

"Enough," Gonch said. 

"What does that mean?"

Gonch rolled his eyes. "It means enough. He is much better at following English than speaking it. His silence is a weapon." 

"Well, that's a little dramatic," Sidney said. 

Gonch stopped and stared at him. "And what would you call this conversation?"

He might have had a point. "Well, let me know if he's upset." 

"Ask him yourself!" 

So Sidney watched, and thought about what Gonch had said about Geno's understanding of English, and attempted to have conversations with Geno about things that were neither his injury nor the two of them. It might have been easier if they could have hung out someplace other than the dressing room, but with the regular season fast approaching, Sidney was spending all of his time either at the rink or recovering, and not even his bondmate could change that focus. He did try to listen to some of his Russian tapes when he came downstairs for a second dinner at 11 p.m. most nights, but he was certain his Russian comprehension lagged significantly behind Geno's understanding of English. 

The regular season started with a decisive win at home against the Flyers, with a goal and an assist for Sidney, and every part of it felt perfect except for one thing. Geno had watched from the press box and joined them all in the dressing room during the post-game, but it still felt incomplete to Sidney. He didn't ask Geno how close he was to returning, not wanting to jinx his progress or upset him, but when Geno started practicing with the team again Sidney couldn't help but hope, and then finally, _finally_ Geno made the trip to Newark with them and it felt like the season was starting for real. 

Before they could begin this new era, however, it turned out there was one final issue that needed to be resolved. 

Sidney didn't quite understand what was happening initially, waiting patiently for Geno to head out onto the ice for warm-ups. At first he thought that maybe Geno was having some nerves, so he smiled at Geno and thought about how to defuse his anxiety. But then Geno made a gesture waving Sidney in front of him, and the smile fell off Sidney's face. 

"Do you go out last?" Sidney asked, desperately hoping that perhaps he was misinterpreting this. No such luck: Geno nodded emphatically. By that point three or four of the guys had come back to see what the hold up was, which was just what he needed--a fucking audience for what was a delicate situation at best. 

"Well, but I go out last. And I've been here a year, so." Sidney shrugged, not enjoying pulling his rank, such as it was, but not unwilling to use it for something so important. 

Geno frowned, and Sidney was about to ask Army to go out and find Gonch to help translate when Geno pointed at himself. "Me three years Superleague." 

Sidney looked at him in disbelief. "But you're a rookie!" _And my omega,_ a small voice in Sidney's head said, but this was a time when hockey superstitions definitely outweighed dynamic considerations. 

Geno shook his head firmly. Some of Sidney's despair must have shown on his face, because Geno's expression softened. He held out his gloved hand in a fist. 

Slowly, Sidney raised his hand and gave him the fist bump Geno was clearly looking for, at which point Geno tapped his helmet against Sidney's. In that moment Sidney took a deep breath and could feel how much Geno wanted this to work, for this to be okay, something new and special for the two of them, a tradition for what was _their_ team now, not just Sidney's alone. He looked up at Geno's face and nodded. "Okay." 

Geno grinned broadly and said something in Russian, too rapidly for Sidney to have a prayer of following it, and gave Sidney a smack on his ass as he walked in front of Geno. He was ready to begin. 

It was a trial run, in Sidney's mind: if they played well together, then it was worth sticking with that new ritual, and if they didn't, then they would have to come up with something else. Marty kept stoning them both through the first and most of the second, and then Geno got his first goal in the NHL on a scrappy little play and that was it, Sidney could see his future and it involved him going out before Geno, confident that Geno would always have his back. 

Of course, he wasn't the only person who now knew about this new tradition. Army leaned over to Sidney on the bench in the third and said, "Your new handshake is fucking kinky, Sid. Letting your omega take charge like that." 

"Focus on the game, asshole," Sidney replied, but his heart wasn't really in it. He thought about it, though; it didn’t feel kinky, it had just felt right. And maybe _that_ was the kinky part, but either way, it was them, him and Geno. That was what mattered.

They lost the game, in the end, but Sidney felt like he had found something. 

That feeling didn't dissipate over the next five games, as they put together a win streak and Geno just kept scoring. They got their revenge against New Jersey at their home rematch, with Geno scoring a goal so beautiful Sidney could barely keep it together. He leapt into Geno's arms on the ice, tucking his face against Geno's neck and feeling the overwhelming joy radiating out of him. Sidney couldn't stop smiling the rest of the game. 

Their win streak and Geno's goal streak both ended in a penalty-filled mess of a game against San Jose, but the rest of the league had definitely sat up and taken notice of the Penguins' rookie who was leading the way. For the first couple of games, Sidney had predictably gotten chirped about protecting his omega, which was easy enough to ignore since Geno didn't need protecting from anyone on the ice. But around the time Geno's streak ended, the chirps changed. 

He had expected Eric Staal to chirp Sidney about his brother, if anyone, but he took a different tack. "Aren't you worried about your omega showing you up?" Staal asked after a whistle, a thread of fake sympathy in his voice. 

"Pay attention to yourself, eh," Sidney said, and skated away. His retort would have been more effective if Carolina hadn't destroyed the Pens, but Sidney did what he could. 

He thought about it afterwards, though, asking himself if he was jealous or felt threatened. When Mario had been on the team last season, he hadn't felt that way, but that was Mario Lemieux. This was his teammate and his bondmate and someone he could be compared with for the rest of his career, just like Ovechkin. When he saw Geno make a play or dance through defenders, he felt the same desire to be better himself that he did when he watched Ovechkin score. But he didn't feel threatened the way he did with Ovechkin on his worst days. He just wanted to impress Geno as much as Geno impressed him. 

Telling Geno that felt important as both an alternate captain and as his bondmate. But the conversation didn't go exactly as he had thought it might. It was after the Pens had pulled out their first win in six games, thanks to Geno's goal with two minutes to go in the third, and if ever there was a time when Sidney should have been sharing his admiration with Geno, it was now. 

"That slap shot was a beaut," Sidney told him, after Geno had finished giving an interview via an interpreter. 

Geno shrugged. "Your goal pretty, too," he said. 

Sidney could feel the blush beginning to rise up on his face. That wasn't the point of this at all. "Yes, but I'm really glad you--I'm always happy when you score," he said, feeling more and more ridiculous.

That feeling intensified when Whits yelled out, "And Jordy's also incredible, we get it, stop sucking each other off in front of us." 

"I'm not--" Sidney started to say, but Geno nudged him and then winked. 

"He just jealous."

"Fuck you, I'm not jealous," Whits protested. 

"I don't know, that's what it sounds like to me," Flower said, and Sidney shot him a grateful look. He began to regret that when Flower added, "We all know you want to be the filling in that sandwich--" 

"Okay, okay, forget I said anything," Sidney said, rolling his eyes and trying not to smile. But it was hard not to when Geno nudged him again and smiled. 

So while Sidney was still certain that Geno was hearing similar stuff from other teams about his performance as an omega, he gradually stopped worrying about it. It was easy not to worry since Geno continued to come out of his shell in the dressing room, teaching the entire team Russian swears and yelling out things in English as long as there wasn't any press around. It became clearer and clearer that Geno didn't need Sidney's protection anywhere, not on the ice and not with his team, who were becoming as much Geno's as they were his. 

It made Sidney feel warm in his belly, watching it happen, knowing he wasn't alone. Getting through a losing streak that they couldn't seem to end had sucked, but he knew that they'd start winning again, and then they had, because of him and Jordy and Geno. That was how it was going to work: he would pull Geno along, and Geno would do the same for him and for their whole team, and the rest of the team would do the same for them. It was still early, and there was a lot left to fix, but the playoffs didn't feel like such a pipe dream anymore. 

*

It was harder to be patient about Geno than it was to be patient about the team,. He had begun to feel like maybe he had hallucinated kissing Geno while he was still recovering from his shoulder injury; Geno never brought it up, or tried to kiss him, or even invited him over. Sidney had done what he could, really: he had sought out Geno when it was barely appropriate for him to do so as his alpha and had made his intentions clear, and now the ball was out of Sidney's court. It was up to Geno now. 

Making matters worse was the fact that the entire team clearly thought that he and Geno were in love and fucking on the regular. "I don't understand why you don't ask Gonch to switch with you," Flower said one night after a tough loss to the Islanders. 

"What do you mean?" Sidney frowned at him. 

"Wouldn't you rather get to sleep with your omega while on the road? Or is this another one of your weird superstitions: no sex on road trips?"

"Flower--"

"Because that seems like a bit much, even for you." 

"We're not like that," Sidney said, desperately. "And keep your voice down." 

"What do you mean, you're not like that?" Flower was staring at him with a strange glint in his eye. 

Sidney shrugged. "I mean, we're bonded, but it's for the team. So that he could play here. At the end of the Courtship we're going to break it."

"But that's not what you want," Flower said shrewdly. 

"It doesn't really matter what I want," Sidney said, taking a large gulp of the beer that Recchi had bought him and insisted he drink. 

"I think it matters a little, at least. Along with what Geno wants." 

Sidney made a gesture that he hoped communicated what he was feeling without having to say it out loud. 

"Have you told him how you feel?" Flower asked, apparently not willing to let Sidney get away with gestures rather than words. 

"I kissed him once. And now it's up to him." 

"But did you tell him what that kiss meant to you?" 

Sidney thought that was rather missing the point. "I didn't think I had to." 

"Well," Flower said, finishing off his drink, "you might want to consider that. I'm heading back to my room to call Vero. So if you wanted to talk to Geno, now's as good a time as any." 

Sidney glanced over to where Geno was sitting with Gonch, and tried to imagine what he would say. Inviting Geno back to his room to talk seemed far too forward, but he also didn't really want to have this kind of a conversation in front of anyone else. 

He thought he might be willing to talk in public, though, when Geno looked over at him and smiled when he saw Sidney. It seemed like the beginning of something, and Sidney smiled back and hoped that Geno would stand up and come take Flower's now vacant spot. But Geno just gave him a little nod and turned back to Gonch, and Sidney's heart fell back into his stomach. 

It was past time for him to be getting to bed anyway, Sidney decided, and he finished his beer and got up and left. 

*

He discovered once they were back in Pittsburgh that he had opened a door for Flower that he would never be able to shut again. In the dressing room after the next game, Flower asked him in French, "Have you talked him yet?"

"No, and I'm not going to," Sidney replied, grateful when Army started bugging them both about keeping secrets in French and Flower let it drop. 

But he picked it back up again after the next home game, and Sidney began to realize that his choices were getting clucked at by his goalie until the end of time or actually talking to his bondmate, and the latter option started to seem more appealing. 

He still chickened out a bit in the end by inviting the Gonchars and Geno to dinner at Mario's house again. It was a typical Lemieux family meal, which meant it was loud and chaotic and there certainly wasn't much in the way of quiet conversation. So even though Sidney had made sure that Geno sat next to him for the meal, both of them barely got a word in edgewise. 

It was either luck or something more when Gonch said, after the meal, "Ksenia and I are heading home now."

"Oh, I can bring Geno home later, I thought we'd watch a movie or something," Sidney said immediately, feeling pretty proud of himself for picking up that cue. 

But from Gonch's expression, that wasn’t what he had expected, or maybe even wanted. "Sounds good, Sid," was all Gonch said, though, and when Sidney looked over at Geno he seemed fine with the plan. 

Sidney had picked out _Dodgeball_ to watch, since he figured Geno would be able to follow the story and the humor easily enough. And it was a success from that standpoint, since Geno laughed loudly at every joke and gag, his entire face changing when he did, and there was nothing Sidney liked more than to see that. It wasn't the most romantic movie in the world, though, which meant that when the movie ended and Geno turned to him and said, "So good, Sid!" Sidney was torn between doing what he wanted to do and kissing him, and doing what he felt like he should do, which was talk about the movie. 

So instead he sat there in silence for a moment, staring at Geno's face as he began to look puzzled and finally concerned. "Not like?" Geno finally asked, and Sidney threw caution to the wind and leaned in to kiss him, one hand cupping Geno's face. 

He tried to put all of the intent that somehow hadn't been expressed in his last kiss, opening his mouth hesitantly and hoping Geno would respond. And then it was like Geno had just been waiting for that tiny cue, his arms going around Sidney as he deepened the kiss further, his tongue sliding into Sidney's mouth. It quickly overwhelmed Sidney, Geno's scent growing stronger around them the longer they kissed, and Sidney tugged Geno closer, not wanting any space between them. 

They sat there in Mario's den making out for long minutes, until someone cleared their throat and Sidney sprang away from Geno. Mario was smiling down at them. "Didn't mean to interrupt, but Nathalie and I are heading to bed. Feel free to--"

"I should take Geno home, it's getting late," Sidney interrupted, jumping up from the couch. He was half-hard in front of Mario and he could only imagine what Geno must look like. But he was sure if he looked back at Geno, he would lose the willpower to do what he should and take him home. 

"Alright, Sidney, if that's what you want," Mario said eventually.

"I'll be home in twenty minutes," he declared, and went to find his keys and coat.

When he got to the front door, Geno was already there and bundled up. He cocked his head at Sidney but didn't say anything, and Sidney took advantage of that to herd him out the door and to his car. They were silent in the car for most of the way to Gonch's, the radio filling the space, until finally Sidney turned on to Gonch's street and it felt safe for him to say, "I had a really nice time tonight."

He glanced over at Geno when he pulled up in front of Gonch's house. Geno was staring back at him, his brow furrowed. Sidney put the car in park and put his hands on his legs to prevent himself from reaching out to soothe the tension from Geno's face. "Me, too," Geno said finally, and something in Sidney finally relaxed again. 

"I'll see you at practice tomorrow," Sidney said, waiting and hoping for Geno to lean over and kiss him, wondering how long they could spend out here making out without Gonch chirping him for the rest of his life. 

But Geno just said, "See you tomorrow," so quietly that Sidney could barely hear him, and opened the door and got out. Sidney thought about saying something before Geno closed the door, but he couldn't think of what, and then the door was shut and Geno was walking away. 

Sidney let his head fall back against the headrest and sighed. If Geno wanted to keep taking it slow, he could do that. 

*

After another week and a half and the same frustrating cycle of a win followed by a loss followed by another win followed by two more losses, Sidney began to wonder if he _could_ survive how slow Geno was moving. Because there was a difference between a gradual progression and just stopping cold, and that seemed to be where they were. Geno was still just as friendly at practices and games and even when the entire team would go out, but the invitation to go out on a date that Sidney was waiting for never came. 

"Pining is a terrible look for you," Flower whispered to him after practice one day.

"I'm not pining," Sidney said with what he thought was quiet dignity, but Flower rolled his eyes and pulled him aside. 

"I thought you were going to talk to him." 

"I did! Or, well," Sidney amended when Flower gave him a look, "I invited him over for dinner and we watched a movie and then, you know." 

"And?"

"And now it's his turn. I've already been more aggressive than I should be, Marc," Sidney said, feeling it like a confession. "He's the omega. I have to wait for him to come to me. Especially since he only got bonded to me so he could play hockey. I don't want him to think he has to do anything more to stay here." 

Flower was looking at him with a mix of sympathy and exasperation on his face. "I'm sure he doesn't feel that way. No one on the team thinks that."

"Well, good, but that doesn't change anything." Sidney took a deep breath. "It has to be up to him." 

"Or you could just ask him directly." 

Sidney shook his head firmly "Or I could let him decide on his own." 

"Or you could do that, I guess," Flower said, sighing loudly, but Sidney knew he was right. He had been taught that starting the day he had presented as alpha when he was thirteen, and he had learned it as well as any hockey drill. It wasn't something he could just decide to ignore. 

*

He had more or less given up hope when another week passed without any sign from Geno that he thought about kissing Sidney as much as Sidney thought about kissing him. But on a rare weekend day off when Sidney had the house to himself, the doorbell rang. 

Geno was standing on the front porch, holding a small cookie tin and looking a bit scared and a bit hopeful. "Geno," Sidney said, feeling totally unprepared. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "Can I come in?"

"Oh! Yes, of course," Sidney said, and stepped aside to let him in. "Mario and Nathalie and the kids are out, so it's just me, and--" 

"Here," Geno said, following Sidney into the kitchen and shoving the tin into Sidney's hands. "Make for you." 

"For me?" Sidney suddenly felt warm all the way through his body, and Geno's solemn nod in response made him swallow hard. "What is it?" he asked as he opened the tin. 

"Pryaniki, is like gingerbread. My favorite," Geno said, but Sidney was overwhelmed by the smell of them, so familiar and unexpected. 

"They smell like you," he said without thinking, and looked up to find Geno staring back at him. 

"Like me?" Geno asked, sounding uncertain. 

Sidney felt his face go hot. "Yeah, um, your scent? It's just like this," he said, unable to resist taking another giant sniff of the cookies. Geno let out a low groan, grabbing the tin and putting it on the island, and before Sidney could react Geno pulled him in for a kiss. 

The cookies were forgotten in an instant, Geno the only thing Sidney could focus on. He hadn't realized until this moment how much Geno had been holding back the first two times they had kissed, because now he was demanding and desperate and completely intent. It was like having a spotlight directed at him--something Sidney had been dealing with in some capacity since he was ten--but when it was Geno it just made him feel warm and special, like he was everything Geno needed him to be.

It made him feel bold, and between kisses he asked, "Do you want to go upstairs?"

"Yes," Geno said immediately, "yes, finally." 

"What do you mean, finally, I've been waiting for ages," Sidney said, vaguely indignant, although most of that got lost when Geno began kissing his neck. 

"So confusing," Geno said. "You kiss, and you leave alone, and you invite for dinner and kiss again after movie and then nothing. Hot and cold."

"I was being polite," Sidney protested. "You had to let me know you were interested." 

Geno pulled away, looking baffled. "But you alpha." 

"Yeah, and so I needed to wait for you," Sidney said, a suspicion creeping into his mind. 

It was confirmed when Geno said, "Alpha in charge of Courtship."

Suddenly Sidney realized that out of all the books on Courtship he had read all those months ago, not a single one had been about how traditions differed from culture to culture, which was clearly the only kind he’d actually needed. "Canadian alphas are supposed to let their omega know they're interested, and then the omega dictates the pace," he said. "It's different in Russia?" He wasn't surprised when Geno nodded emphatically. "Okay. I'm going to be blunt, then." Even given everything, Sidney still felt a bolt of nerves go through his stomach, but he made himself say it. "I want to Court you for real. And have sex with you. And depending on how things go, I still have the ribbons--" 

He was cut off when Geno kissed him again, hard but brief, and Geno leaned his forehead against Sidney's. "Want that. All of that." 

Sidney could barely stop smiling long enough to kiss him again. "Well, good," he said. "So. Upstairs?" 

Apparently Flower had been right, because once Sidney actually said something everything else seemed to fall into place. Now that he wasn't worried about whether Geno was interested in him, he just got to think about what he wanted to do, and it turned out the answer was everything. 

"Can I blow you?" he asked as they stumbled up the stairs towards his room. "I just really want to blow you."

"Think I say no?" Geno was laughing at him, his face a bit pink. 

Sidney shrugged. "If there's something you'd rather do, I don't have to." 

"Want," Geno said definitely, and finally, finally Sidney got him to the edge of his bed and slid down onto his knees. 

After four months of sharing a dressing room with Geno, Sidney knew that he would be big. But there was knowing that intellectually, and then there was being face to face with Geno's hard dick. He swallowed, his own dick pressing up against the fly of his jeans. He leaned in and took a deep breath, moaning. "Fuck, you smell so good," he said, and finally got his mouth on Geno. 

He heard Geno swearing softly in Russian above him, one big hand settling in Sidney's hair, but all his attention was for Geno's dick: how good it felt to have it in his mouth, how incredible he tasted. He went down as far as he could and got one hand on the rest. With each stroke Geno's scent rose higher, and Sidney was snapping his hips in time as he bobbed up and down on Geno's cock. 

WIth a low groan Geno's hand tightened on the back of Sidney's neck; a few seconds later Sidney's mouth was flooded with come, and he swallowed it and then kept sucking, shuffling closer on his knees. Geno tasted just like he smelled, and Sidney was surrounded by it now, feeling almost high from it. 

When Geno finally pushed him away, Sidney almost whined in protest, but then Geno tugged him onto the bed and kissed him deeply, one hand gripping Sidney's dick firmly. He thrust up into the touch, desperate for more but not wanting it to end. 

"What you want?" Geno asked him before kissing him again, his tongue sliding into Sidney's mouth. It made it hard for Sidney to think, but he knew exactly what he wanted. He got his hand on Geno's bare ass and squeezed. Geno huffed out a laugh. 

"Do you want?" Sidney asked, hoping, and when Geno nodded he let out a sigh and sat up. 

Geno stripped out of his shirt, lying back on his bed naked, and Sidney took a moment to just look at him, broad shoulders and soft belly and gorgeous legs, his dick soft against his thigh. Geno tucked one arm behind his head and spread his legs further. 

Sidney had to smile. "Show off." 

Geno grinned back at him. "You fuck me in clothes?" 

Sidney shook his head, getting his shirt off fast and then carefully peeling his jeans down, tugging them over his erection. Geno watched him avidly, eyes scanning over SIdney's body, and his face flushed hot down to his chest. When Sidney was totally naked, Geno used the long reach of his leg to hook his ankle around Sidney, tugging him forward. 

What was left of Sidney's self-control vanished, Geno's legs cradling him close as he thrust against Geno's belly. Geno's hands were on his ass, pulling him forward, and Sidney began to worry that at this rate he wasn't even going to make it inside of Geno before he came. Sidney finally knelt up and pushed Geno's legs up and back, Geno already wet and open for him, and he lined himself up and pushed inside. 

The feel of Geno around him was overwhelming, and Sidney had to take a moment just to breathe. That would have been easier if Geno hadn't suddenly become very impatient, literally kicking Sidney like he was a horse refusing to gallop. 

"Sidney, come on," Geno said, and Sidney began to thrust. 

He had always been taught to be careful with omegas, not to be too rough or presumptuous because it was important to respect their needs. But Geno certainly didn't act like he wanted Sidney to be careful with him, slapping Sidney's ass hard on each thrust and lifting his hips up into it, his dick beginning to get hard again. 

"Faster," Geno urged, sounding not unlike he did on the ice when he was demanding the puck, so talented and fucking beautiful it drove Sidney insane. He could feel the base of his dick beginning to swell, and he said frantically, "Geno, my knot--"

"Yes, I want," Geno said, sounding smug, and Sidney moaned and fucked in harder.

"I can't believe I get to have this," Sidney gasped, the pressure on his knot intense in a way Sidney had never felt before, and Geno laughed. 

"I give," Geno said, and he did, and Sidney just took and took until finally he came, losing all control as he collapsed onto Geno, his dick pulsing inside of him. He panted against Geno's neck, breathing in his scent and never wanting to move again. 

Geno was murmuring to him in Russian, voice low and soothing, and it sounded like home to Sidney. 

Finally, Sidney made himself pull out, his knot still tugging a bit on Geno's hole as he did, and then he collapsed next to Geno, needing to stay close to him. He couldn't keep his hands to himself, running his fingers all over Geno's body, and Geno let him, gaze focused on Sidney's face. 

"So what made you come by with cookies?" Sidney asked after a while. 

Geno made a face. "Gonch was tired of moping," he finally said, and Sidney laughed. "Plus Flower."

"What did Flower say?" Sidney demanded. 

Looking shifty, Geno only said, "That you even more dumb than me." 

God, Sidney was never going to hear the end of this. "Well, I'm glad you did." 

"Yes, I'm best," Geno said, and Sidney shoved him a little but couldn't otherwise argue, given how the night had gone. 

Things got a little more complicated when they went downstairs to the kitchen to eat a very late dinner a few hours later, Sidney just in boxers and Geno in a pair of Sidney's sleep pants, and ran into Mario. For a split second, Sidney considered not saying anything, but given how well speaking up had worked for him earlier that night, he figured he might as well. 

"So, Geno's going to be spending some nights here in the future, if that's okay," Sidney said, as casually as he could manage. 

"Of course," Mario said. "He's welcome any time." He smiled at them both, and added, "Have fun at practice tomorrow." 

Sidney looked over at Geno, who was grinning back at him, and thought about the grief that both of them were going to get. He couldn't wait.


	2. Epilogue

Attending the NHL Awards was stressful, but not for any of the reasons people thought. 

Sidney wasn't worried about his awards, or the speeches he would make when he accepted them. He knew he had won the Art Ross, and when Mario told him that he was a lock for both the Hart and the Pearson, he believed him. Staying modest was something his parents had drilled into him since he was little and started out-playing his teammates, but that was different from false humility, and he knew how good he had been this season. He was prepared to accept his awards. 

Accepting an award on Geno's behalf, on the other hand, was terrifying.

The second half of the season had been a whirlwind, each win adding to the momentum of their playoff push until they finally reached the summit and made it to the first round. It had been painful to lose to Ottawa, but, if Sidney was honest with himself, not entirely unexpected. And when Michel and Ray had offered him the captaincy shortly thereafter, he had no hesitation about accepting. It was his team, and he felt ready. 

By that point Mario's family had been housing two young hockey players rather than one, since Geno had more or less moved in with Sidney by Christmas. Mario hadn't seemed upset by that, and Nathalie always said that doubling recipes was barely any extra work, but Sidney was still grateful and knew he was lucky. He had spent most of May searching for a house that he and Geno both liked for the following season, and they’d finally found a place that would be ready for them to move into post-renovations by late August. 

In the meantime, Geno had already returned to Russia for the first half of the summer, and Sidney would be joining him there in two days. 

"One of you can miss the ceremony," Mario had said. "But not both of you." Sidney had known, even before he’d looked at Geno's puppy dog eyes, that he would be the one to stay. 

It was only fair, given that Sidney had gotten to go home briefly during the season and hadn't needed to flee his country in the dead of night. But he also knew how it would be viewed by everyone: the alpha of the relationship taking responsibility and representing both himself and his omega publicly. He had spent all season politely declining to discuss the Agreement with the press, and now he was about to do something that was more public than any interview. But it was a tradeoff he was more than willing to make, especially given how Geno's face had lit up when Sidney said that he would stay and Geno could go home. 

Sidney tried to keep Geno's face in his mind when he was walking up to the stage to accept Geno's Calder Award. The interest of the audience was palpably different than it had been when he’d accepted his own awards. That had been expected; this was drama. 

There was a low murmur still settling through the crowd when he arrived at the podium. "Uh, thanks everyone,” he said. “On behalf of Geno, I'd like to accept this award, and to thank our team, coaches and entire staff, and of course our incredible fans in Pittsburgh, for their support this season and every season. Geno would also like to thank his friends and family, both in the U.S. and back home, for everything, and the Gonchar and Lemieux families as well." Sidney took a bit of a breath there, and could feel the crowd deflate, like they hadn't gotten what they'd wanted after all. He continued, "This is a big award, and one I'll have to ask him what it's like to win." He grinned a little at the laughter that bubbled up from the audience. "I also personally want to thank the Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL for their support of Geno and me this past season. It meant a lot to me, and I'm sure it meant even more to Geno. We're both looking forward to many more years together in Pittsburgh. Thank you." 

The crowd was still reacting as Sidney walked offstage after his speech. His hands were shaking, his heart pounding hard, but when he saw the concerned look on Mario's face, all he could do was smile. After a moment, Mario smiled back at him, and Sidney let out a sigh, the adrenaline still coursing through him. 

"When do you leave?" Mario asked. 

"First flight is tomorrow morning. Should be there about twenty-four hours later, after the connections." 

"Not that you're counting," Mario teased. 

Sidney could only grin harder. "We're there until the end of July, and then we're heading up to Cole Harbour."

"You'll probably be fluent by the time you get back." 

"I'm going to work on it," Sidney said seriously. It was one of his two main goals for his trip to Russia: improve his language skills, and do everything he could to make Geno's parents love him. The ribbons from the Agreement signing so many months ago were already carefully packed in his carry-on. He was sort of hoping he could convince Geno to wait until he had gotten to take him home to meet his family properly, too, but he wouldn't mind having a Russian wedding. He was ready either way.

**Author's Note:**

> [Geno's second goal against the Devils.](https://youtu.be/qkjAHlTrAyw)
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>  
> 
> Geno baking pryaniki was inspired by [this delightful fic.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12644142)
> 
> [My hockey tumblr.](https://hockeymuffins.tumblr.com/)


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